Street Art in Chicago
Graffiti and Murals in Bucktown
Charlie loves to take Street Art Tours when she visits a city for several reasons: they get you to a different part of the city and show aspects that other tourist tours usually don’t reveal. And most importantly, they’re never an off-the-shelf tour as the street art constantly changes and the information is often not something you can easily research online. There simply is no manuscript to pass on to another guide to take over the tour. That was no different in Chicago.
Offbeat Street Art Tour
The tour that Charlie booked in Chicago was offered by Offbeat Street Art Tours and took place in the area of Bucktown. The guide, Brian, had just been at an unofficial street art and skate event the night before and shared stories that confirmed how well he knew the local scene of artists and graffiti writers.
They met in a coffee shop and stayed there for a while when Brian provided an overview of the history of Street Art in the US to get all participants on the same page. It was a small group of only 6 people.
One thing that became apparent during the tour is that the murals are well-respected in Chicago as there was very little tagging and most of them were in great shape. It was only towards the end of the tour near California station where they could see some newer art works and even Brian spotted some new murals he had not seen before.
Murals to instill hope
The first mural they saw was by Hebru Brantley and is a tribute to his childhood. It shows kids that are running whilst wearing helmets that makes it seem like a scene from an action movie. The store that originally commissioned it is no longer there, and the property management company wants to keep it.
Around the corner from there is an alley where every single garage door has been used as a canvas that shows graffiti writing and the portrait of a famous musician such as Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon or David Bowie. Some of them even show some memorable lyrics or words like “Respect”, “Peace, love and happiness”. This project is part of the series #PaintLoveAcrossAmerica where an artist couple travelled around the States to paint murals that spread love and kindness in times of uncertainty.
Collaborative pieces of art
Next to the music-inspired murals is a collaborative piece by two muralists and four graffiti writers that shows the face of the owner of the building.
Another collaborative piece is to be seen just off the crossing of the bike trail Park 606 and Milwaukee Avenue. It was done by Jeff Zimmermann and 8 other artists and shows portraits of people from the local community amongst many other things. This piece of art is one to get lost in. The longer you look at it, the more you’ll see.
Tagging as a message
A bit further along Milwaukee Avenue is a giant mural by Key Detail from October 2020. Given the time of creation, the lockdown is probably part of the inspiration. However, the piece leaves a lot of room for interpretation. It was created as part of the annual “Titan Walls Festival”. That in itself does not stir up any trouble. It is more the fact that an agency stands behind this festival and contributes to the corruption of street art that is getting mainstreamed. Plus, the artist is from New York, not Chicago. As such, it has been tagged at the bottom. Those tags send a clear message and are an expression of some kind of frustration within the local community of graffiti writers and street artists.
Permission walls for public art in Chicago
One thing Charlie has noticed during the several street art tours she has taken in several cities is that street art seems to become more recognized as art and less seen as vandalism. Chicago had a project that confirms this theory. As part of the project “Paint the city”, so-called permission walls were put up at the abandoned building of the Congress Theatre. Those walls were used for new artists to learn their craft.
It is ambiguous though for some artists because street art and graffiti do not ask for permission.
Street art as a tourist attraction
In Chicago, tourism mainly happens inside The Loop, the circular elevated train that marks downtown. This really is a shame as it means that tourists won’t see the real Chicago. Charlie was happy that the street art tour took her to another part of town where you could also mingle with the locals. There has been a street art project some time ago, the Greetings Tour, that aims at tourists seeing murals from the train from the airport into Chicago and encourages them to get off to take a picture of the postcard-style mural.
Offbeat Street Art Tours are going to open two more routes in Chicago in 2025, near Fulton market and in Uptown. Looks like Charlie will have to return.
